Passionate Desire (24 page)

“What?”

“I seem to have a new mark. It’s nothing that will harm me but I wonder where it came from?”

She came over to look. Her face didn’t show any emotion but her eyes shined with fear. He felt a little jolt when she ran her fingers over it. Did she know what it was?

“Is that where I bit you?” Her voice a little high pitched for her.

He had to think. “I think it is. You saying you caused that?” He looked back at the surface to see it again before he turned his gaze back to her.

“Um, it’s possible.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“Well?”

“Well what?’

“What about this has you so frightened?”

Chapter 12

Storm watched the screen in shock. “She marked him?”

“Isn’t that what you did to me?” Heather touched the side of her neck where her mark was. It was something she wore with pride.

“Yes, but that was different.” He pressed a soft kiss against her mark.

“How?” Heather sat in front of him so she had to turn to look him in the face. “If I remember, your sister yelled for quite a while when she realized what had happened.”

“That’s because I didn’t follow protocol. We were blessed by our religious leader. He’s not there with them, is he?”

“You’re not getting it, are you?” He could be so dense at times. “Let’s try this a different way. When we were first told we were to marry, did you plan on taking me as your mate as well?”

“My uncle–”

“Don’t care about him right now. Deep down inside. What did you feel?”

“I was attracted to you.” He touched her face gently.

“I was a new toy to play with.”

“You had the stamina to put up with my voracious appetite. No one could do that. You also didn’t fall all over yourself to get my attention the moment I met you. I found that intriguing.”

“And this?” She exposed the little mark on her neck. “Did you plan this?”

“No. It just happened.”

“Exactly.” She pointed to his sister. “It just happened. I think they are destined for each other even though your sister knows her duty. She isn’t very happy about that mark. Just look at her face.”

Her face was frozen on the screen because the computer stopped the video when they started talking. Stark fear shone in her eyes.

****

Toki wasn’t sure what to do. Lying wasn’t part of her nature, but he might not be very happy about what that meant. She took a deep breath. “Um, Vespian mates receive a mark like this when they go through the mating ritual.”

“We haven’t gone through a ritual.”

“I know, but the mark has shown up on people before the ritual was done as well. That is very rare but I know of one instance that happened recently.”

“Really?” He watched her with curiosity on his face. “Who?”

“Heather and Storm.” She stole a quick glance at him.

“The one on her neck?”

“Yes.” He didn’t seem to be too upset with this. She wasn’t sure how to handle that.

“I wondered what that was.” He was quiet for a moment. “Does this mean we’re mates?”

She found herself studying the floor a lot. “I don’t know.”

“You mean you don’t want to commit, even though you were driven to mark me as yours.”

“I’m not supposed to mate.” This was going to be very hard to explain.

“What are you talking about?” He walked to where she stood. His hand slipped under her chin and lifted her head so she would look him in the eyes. “Don’t look at the ground while we’re talking about this.”

“I am to be the next religious leader of the planet. It’s a position I’ll hold for fifty years and I’m not to look for a mate until after I have served my term.” She watched his face as her words sank in.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “That’s part of the job. Why aren’t you upset about this?”

“Did you do this on purpose?” He touched his collarbone.

“No.” She looked at the mark. Good thing he didn’t ask if she was proud of it because in a way she was but for all the wrong reasons. A mate wasn’t part of her life right now, and she wouldn’t dare ask him to wait until she had fulfilled her duty.

“Didn’t think so.” He studied her, making her nervous. “You don’t seem happy about this.”

“It shouldn’t have happened.” She had been groomed for her upcoming position. All the training, all the studying, was done. No one could do it but her. It would take too long to get someone else ready.

If only she could speak to her uncle. He would know what to do.

He wanted to press it further but the door to their room opened at the moment. Their guards ushered them back to the lab.

She was grateful for the reprieve. It would give her time to think everything through.

Kuarto walked beside her, quiet. She wondered what he was thinking. Then he whispered in her ear. “Do you have one too?”

She didn’t know. That would be something they would have to look for when they went back to their room.

****

“Told you.”

“Told me what?” Storm refused to acknowledge what his mate was driving at.

“She knows her duty.” Heather gave him a smug smile.

He grunted. Kuarto was right when he told his sister things weren’t going as planned. The computer hadn’t been able to track Kuarto once he left the bar because of some sort of security scrambler. It was still working on a way to decipher the data to try to get a fix on their location, but hadn’t been successful yet. The mention of the binary stars helped but none of the planets they saw when Kuarto and his sister went for their walk was helpful. They still needed more information.

And now his mate was proving she knew his sister better than he did.

Storm chose to let her comment go.

Heather watched him with that grin on her face. His lack of reaction seemed to work for her as well as any comment he might have made.

****

The readings always came back the same. Nothing would fertilize the sterile egg. “I need to speak to Al.” He knew the room was bugged so waited for one of their guards to answer.

Al came into the room within a few minutes. “Have you found something?”

“Nothing. No matter how I manipulate any of these samples the results are the same.”

“You feel this egg can’t be fertilized.” For some reason he didn’t seemed surprised.

“Not by any normal means.”

“Use this, and put it in the real egg.” He handed him another sample.

“I need to run tests on it before I can do that.” Kuarto looked at the sample. “We only get the one shot.”

“I know.” Al didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no right away either. “I’ll allow you to run your tests, but I want to make sure the data doesn’t leave this compound. I’ll want to wipe your scanner before you leave this planet.”

“That is fine.” He picked up his scanner and held it out to Al. “You want to check it before I run my scans?”

He looked at the scanner for several seconds before he shook his head. “I’m going to have to trust you sooner or later, so why not start now.”

“I’m touched.” He hoped his hand wouldn’t shake as he used it. The scanner pulled the data off and loaded it to the screen. It didn’t take long for the scan to finish, but he knew it would take him a few days to work his way through all the information. He frowned as some of it caught his eye. “Whose DNA is this?”

“Mine.”

“You have a lot of the same markers the egg from Heather does. I’ve never seen anything like this.” Heather had a high percentage of ancient in her. What he saw showed this man as one hundred percent ancient. How was that possible?

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” He headed to the door. “You do what you need to get this egg fertilized.”

Toki came to his side once Al left. “That sounded like an ultimatum.”

“I know.” Kuarto stared at the data. What did this mean?

****

Heather looked at Storm. She had walked in right before Al handed his DNA over. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. We’ve never had any records of an ancient being amongst us.”

“That is not true. He lived on this planet for several years. He found this facility and utilized it while he was here.” The computer gave them the information. “His knowledge is the reason I wasn’t able to track the doctor the way I should have.”

“And you didn’t think that was pertinent information?”

“You never asked if he had come to the compound.”

“It is still a computer, Storm.” She could feel his anger starting to grow. “Volunteering information might not be part of its program.”

The glare he gave her would have made anyone else cower, but she understood. “Are you saying there are ancients living amongst us without our knowledge?”

“He and Heather are the only ones who fall into the category of ancients, but the elders are aware of both people.”

“The elders didn’t know of Heather’s ancient blood and I doubt any of them know of Ialog.”

“They were the ones who woke him up.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think we need to speak to your mother,” said Heather.

“You think she’s been keeping information from us?” He had that ‘I’m not in control and I don’t like it’ look on his face.

“I think she’s following the basic need to know basis your planet runs on.” Heather knew she needed to handle this properly. “We haven’t told her about Al so she doesn’t know who has been causing all of our problems. I would think she would have told us about him if she suspected him to be the threat to us.”

“You’re right.” He slipped an arm around her waist as they headed out of the compound. “You always give people the benefit of the doubt.”

“There’s no reason to get mad until you have all the information.” Heather had to walk fast to keep up with his long legs.

“How was she today?”

“Pretty normal. She’s worried about your sister, but I didn’t see a break in her armor this time.”

“Wonder how she’s going to take our questions.” He nodded to one of the men guarding her rooms.

“We’ll know in a moment.” Heather stepped in first. “Anseri?”

“I’m in here.” She came out with a hopeful smile on her face. “What brings you here? Do you have news?”

“We have a few questions.” Heather looked at Storm. He needed to let her ask the questions or he could end up upsetting his mother more than he planned. She took Anseri’s hands and led her to a nearby couch. “We have found out who took my egg. He is the one holding your daughter and my brother. We think you know him.”

She looked from Storm to Heather. “You think he’s Vespian?”

“No. He’s an Ancient. We’re sure of it.” Heather let the words sink in. “His name is Ialog. The same man who kidnapped me several months ago.”

“Ialog?” She acted like the name didn’t ring a bell.

Heather looked at Storm. “Could he have done to her what he did to me?”

“Possible.” He touched Heather’s shoulder. “You think you can go in and release the info?”

“Me?” The thought of entering Anseri’s mind made her nervous. “I’ve never done anything like that. I don’t know where to start.”

“Uncle. He would know.” Storm pressed a quick kiss against her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Heather watched him leave before turning her attention back to Storm’s mother. “Ialog did something to my mind so I wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him. We have proof he was here and interacted with the council of elders so we’re thinking that he did something to your mind, too. Storm wants me to go inside and see if I can help you unlock the information you can’t seem to remember. Is that okay?”

“If you think it will help you.”

“I do.” Heather held her hand.

Storm came back with his uncle in tow.

“I understand you need me.” He stood there, smiling.

“Storm said you could help me to get into your sister’s thoughts. I have no idea how to do it.”

“I wondered when you would ask about this. You have just started using your mind so wouldn’t know your full potential yet, Heather.” He pulled a chair up to where the two women sat and parked himself. He laid a leather pouch on his lap. He pulled a few items out and handed them to Heather.

“And what am I supposed to do with this stuff?” She looked at the items he handed her.

“Nothing.” He laughed. He pulled out a fist sized crystal and held it up to the light. “I have found when I work with people who are just learning to use new talents like this it helps them to focus on something. This should work for you. I just needed you to hold those things so I could get to the crystal.”

She shook her head at his humor and handed everything back before she took the crystal. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Relax.” He sat his bag on the floor beside his chair. “Think of something pleasing.”

She closed her eyes and thought of Storm. Her mind released itself a little.

“Good. Now, focus on the crystal. Nothing else but that.”

She opened her eyes and looked at the rainbow of colors that flowed out of it. They moved around her, enveloping her in their soft glow. Her mind began to reach out. It happened too easily and she found herself pulling back.

“Don’t fight that, Heather. Natural instinct would be to hold back but you need to open your mind more. Allow yourself to touch other minds besides your mate’s. You can see into the thoughts of anyone you want. Good or bad. At first, you’ll probably enter only those minds you know well. But as time goes on and you continue to use this mental ability, you will be able to enter anyone’s consciousness.” His voice spoke to her softly, methodically. It lulled her into a deeper state that blocked out the rest of the world. All she could see was the crystal. All she could hear was his voice. “Now, reach out with your thoughts. Contact those around you.”

She felt hesitant, knew she needed strength. Her mind searched for Storm’s. His strength would help her do what was asked of her. The next mind she encountered was a little quirky, filled with so much knowledge. Uncle? Anseri? She wasn’t sure. She probed some more and found the psyche to be female. A whole new world opened for her. Information she never wanted spilled into her head. The reasons why things were done a certain way. It was like a vast library and all she had to do was touch an image and all of that data was hers.